Tag Archives: school

Here’s a story that should make your head spin: Officials at an elementary school in N.J. say the best way to ensure young children steer clear of drugs is to make them afraid of being randomly drug tested:

A proposal to conduct random drug tests of young students in one New Jersey town is raising some eyebrows.

Students at Belvidere Elementary School could be adding drug testing to their list of lessons when they move into middle school.

The Board of Education will vote Wednesday on a plan to randomly test sixth, seventh and eighth graders to see if they are under the influence of drugs. School administrators said they were confident the proposal would pass.

Elementary School Principal Sandra Szabocsik said school officials want to use the testing “as a deterrent.”

“We’re hoping that the students if they’re at say a party or someone’s house or just hanging out somewhere, that they’ll say ‘I don’t want to get involved in drinking or using any drug because tomorrow could be a drug testing day,'” she told CBS 2′s Christine Sloan.

The program is voluntary and both parents and students must consent. School officials said it was important to note that if a student tested positive, they would not be suspended or have the results sent to the police.

Instead, those students would get counseling or even be referred to a rehab facility …

"This may affect my willingness to fund money for them," said Supervisor Bill Russell. "That's just the way I am."

A local Mississippi Head Start program that enforced a ban on Santa Claus from visiting children last month is now at risk of losing funding in the upcoming year. Concerned members of DeSoto County’s Board of Supervisors say the ban conflicts with Head Start’s “set of core values which … respects families, cultures and diversity.”

Prior to Christmas, a memo from Head Start state headquarters in Holly Springs implored employees in the program’s 367 pre-school centers to refrain from displaying Santa Claus and Christmas-themed decorations. Specifically, Head Start’s Virda Lee warned, “Please DO NOT invite Santa to your center.”

A “Winter Wonderland” theme featuring snowmen and snowflakes, however, was suggested by Lee as a suitable alternative during the season otherwise known as ‘Christmas.’

While Christmas was shunned in the name of promoting ‘tolerance’ and ‘diversity’ to Head Start’s young participants, it was revealed by Gov. Haley Barbour’s spokesman this week that the ban on all things Christmas appears to be the handiwork of a naughty elf, aka Virda Lee, because it’s definitely not the “official position” of the statewide program.

DeSoto County’s Board of Supervisors said they want answers from Head Start regarding its official position on Christmas before making critical funding decisions later this month.

“We have an American culture, and every time we turn around it gets chipped away and chipped away, and I’m getting tired of it,” said Supervisor Allen Latimer.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the St. Paul school district will make all public schools “sweet-free zones” by the end of the school year. Opponents of the plan say “there is little proof such policies work” and that “it’s a school’s role to teach — not force — students to eat healthy.”

The school district’s unproven and experimental anti-obesity crusade is being fueled by “a series of state and federal grants, the largest of which will end this school year.”

Agree or disagree with St. Paul Public Schools’ crusade to rid all “sweet, sticky, fat-laden [and] salty treats” from kids’ lunchboxes and cafeteria trays?

Contact Superintendent Valeria S. Silva if you think parents, not bureaucrats, should determine what’s best for their own children to consume in school cafeterias:

Michelle Malkin just released her “Big Nannies of the Year” list and Reason.tv recently held its annual red carpet ‘awards gala.’ Find out who made the cut and let us know if a notorious nanny state nincompoop has been overlooked.

Just another shining example of nanny state bureaucrats telling parents how to raise their own children ... and, using the long arm of the law to force them to comply.

A police officer in Utah recently cited the mother of a kindergartner with “misdemeanor child neglect” because she allows him to walk to and from school without adult supervision. Nevermind the fact that bureaucrats’ recent spending cuts eliminated bus service for five-year-old Noah Talbot.

Rosella Talbot, a mother of six, said Noah is typically accompanied on his morning walk to school by one of his older brothers. Noah’s kindergarten class lets out early, but he has been provided by his mother with strict instructions that they practiced together for walking alone and wears a bright orange safety vest to ensure his visibility at intersections.

When a police officer recently witnessed one of the rare instances of Noah walking to school alone, he was put in the back of the squad car and driven back home to his mother.

Talbot said she informed the police officer about the safety routine she taught Noah and how she “rode a bike with her son the mile-long distance from school for more than two weeks, showing him the best route to take and the obstacles to avoid,” but was still issued a citation for “misdemeanor child neglect” because the officer did not agree with her parenting decision.

“I am not a neglectful parent, thank you very much,” she told the Deseret News. “I have just done everything I could possibly do.”

The South Jordan School District, by law, does not provide bus service for students who live less than a mile and a half from their school. A budget shortfall this year forced bureaucrats to eliminate so-called “hazardous routes,” leaving countless youngsters to navigate these dangerous streets on their own or with adult supervision, if available.

“These are some serious charges. … I can’t be a Girl Scout leader,” Talbot said. “I can’t work at a day care … I am just so frustrated.”

Talbot’s attorney is expected to enter a not guilty plea during a hearing on Jan. 5.

Agree or disagree with the police officer citing Rosella Talbot with misdemeanor child neglect because he doesn’t agree with her parenting decision? Contact Police Chief Lindsay Shepherd and let him know how you feel.

The principal of a public school in Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-Mass.) ultra-liberal district is “bringing back the Pledge of Allegiance” next month, but only those students whose parents sign their permission slips are allowed to honor America.

On Monday, Devotion Principal Gerardo J. Martinez sent a letter to parents telling them that the school in Brookline he would begin leading weekly recitations next month of the ‘controversial’ Pledge of Allegiance, reports WickedLocal.com.

“I urge you to have a conversation as a family to help your children understand why I will be reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and to support them in feeling comfortable and confident in the decision on whether or not to participate,” Martinez said in the letter.

Parent Judi Puritz Cook said pledging allegiance to America and its flag is “uncomfortable” for herself and her two sons who have been taught to “think very carefully before making any promise.”

When Martinez begins to recite the Pledge of Allegiance next month, Cook said the school will no longer be “inclusive of everyone.”

“We’re celebrating diversity and including people… and then to be the one sitting there, waiting for the pledge to finish, [that] doesn’t feel inclusive,” she said. “Yeah, it’s weird. That’s the right word for it.”

Agree or disagree with providing children with the option of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom? Sound-off below.